1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to sound processing. More specifically, the invention provides a computationally efficient method of estimating the root-mean-square (“RMS”) content of a spectrally complex signal.
2. Description of the Related Art
The human ear gauges the loudness of a signal based upon its RMS content. Traditionally, the RMS content of a spectrally complex signal is calculated by computing the square root of the mean of the squared signal being processed. The square root calculation, however, is processor intensive, and thus places a heavy burden on miniaturized sound processing devices, such as digital hearing instruments.